Whether we like it or not, AI is here and here to stay. Much of AI’s possibilities are rather exciting. And much of AI’s possibilities are frightening. It’s always the way things are when new. Regardless where you fall in the AI camp, it is definitely making an impact on us all and rapidly changing the world as we know it.
In 2023, the American Historical Association (AHA) published Guiding Principles for Artificial Intelligence in History Education. The gist of the article states that generative AI is a tool and cannot replace the human factor so integral to the preservation and teaching of American History. The statement also encourages the integration of AI literacy built upon the core foundational skills of research, evaluation, and critical analysis. (Read the full statement at historians.org)
Maggie May Clothing addressed our thoughts on AI last year. We wrote: Maggie May Clothing is a human- centric business! Therefore, it will always be me (Susan Jarrett) writing the articles about Fashion & History (including all presentations or lectures) and Blog posts. Sorry, AI will not be writing history here.
Authentic Digitized Image c. 1880s. Public Domain.
Digitally tinted image completed by hand by Susan Jarrett using Photoshop. c. 2019. This is an example of how technology has been used to replicate a 100 year old process.
This statement is still true in 2026 and beyond. As Maggie May Clothing begins to expand and increase our online Fashion and History resources, we intend to still write “by hand” using thoughtful research and analysis. Be assured, everything you read here at Maggie May Clothing is REAL and rooted strongly in AUTHENTIC historical documentation and research.
Here are a few more of our commitments.
-> NO AI GENERATED ARTICLES. We will not be generating content with CHATGBT or any other AI sources and publishing them as valid research. Did you know nearly 60% of written content found across Social Media is generated by AI? And did you know roughly 70% of all social media images and videos are AI generated. In 2026, this percentage is expected to hit a whopping 90%!
–> NO AI GENERATED IMAGES OR VIDEOS. At Maggie May Clothing, we are committed to using REAL and AUTHENTIC historical images and references in all our online resources and publications. While we love that AI can now restore documents and photographs too deteriorated to decode, we firmly believe it is a VERY dangerous practice to generate historical images and pass them off as authentic.
AI generated image using the keywords “Group photo of women wearing the same 1880s blue calico print dresses”. Generated January 12, 2026. It seems AI does not yet know enough about historical clothing (or colors…) to replicate the image above. Yet….
Educate yourself about photo (and now video) authentication. Learn to spot AI generated images and acknowledge them for what they are- FANTASY!
I am sure I will add more to our pledge as the AI revolution continues to shift and evolve. Please support Maggie May Clothing in our commitments and learn how the use of AI is effecting our understanding of history.
Please read our human written Blogs, Fashion & History pages, and check out our authentic and truthfully researched historical resources. Please be sure to join our mailing list for our newsletters!
